“Mama! Mama!” I called out. “Is it story time yet?” A young lady walked in, her white teeth shining. Her shoulder length hair danced out. She sat down on our dust coated wood floor, placing a thin ripped book besides her and smoothing out her worn dress. She beckoned me forward to the space on her right, patting the dust off. I smiled gleefully at the gestured and ran to my spot. As I sat down, tucking my skirt under me, she patted down my hair.

            “Jin Ae, what happened to your hair dear?” she asked, chuckling while trying to tame it. I happily bounced up and down.

            “Mama! It was so cool. I went to Fuko Park today and I met this boy,” I exclaimed, making hand motions adding feeling to my story. My mom laughed at my actions and gestured for me to turn around. I turned my back towards her and she gently began running her fingers through my hair. “Mama, he was very nice. He played with me. We played race and pretend.” I giggled, remembering the events.

            “Is that so?” my mom asked, laughing along with me. I nodded my head.

            “Mama, today the other kids came out too. They wanted to meet him. They said that he was weird. I tried to tell them to stop, but they didn’t,” I said, my smile fading and a frown replacing it. “Why do they have to be so mean? I mean it was his first time in Eastfield. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know where everything was,” I stopped, feeling my mom go rigid. Instead she turned me around to look at her. Her eyes looked terrifying. Her eyes were widened, but her pupils were small. It scared me. Her grip on my shoulders tightened.

            “Jin Ae, who was that boy?” she spoke loudly, almost yelling. Tears formed in my eyes. Mama had never raised her voice at me before and it really did scare me. “Jin Ae, who was that boy?” she asked, more firmly and louder.

            “H-he didn’t t-tell me his name,” I managed to say through the sobs. As my tears fell, my mom quickly wiped them and brought me into her embrace.

            “I’m sorry for yelling, Jin Ae, but you must promise me never to see him again,” she said, her hand patting my hair. I could hear an edge in the words she spoke. I then remembered my promise to him.

            “Hey,” the boy said, stuffing his hand in his pockets. We were under a small oak. Since it was autumn, leaves were falling one by one to the ground. He stood leaning back on the trunk, while I sat gazing out at the surroundings. It was beautiful. All the trees were orange and brown with their leaves dancing throughout the air. I hummed in response and heard leaves crumple besides me. I glanced over to see him, squatting down, and his hand in a fist. I got out my hand to receive the object and he opened up his hand to a small heart shaped ruby necklace. My eyes sparkled at the extravagant piece. “Do you like it?” he asked, sitting down next to me. I nodded slightly, afraid it would disappear if I moved. “Do you want it?” I looked up at him. He smiled brightly as he stood up and walked behind me. Then he started trying to hook the clip on.

            “Can you put it on?” I asked, after few minutes.

            He sighed and answered, “No.” I giggled and stood up.

            “I’ll ask my mama to put it on for me,” I replied. He handed me the necklace and looked at the ground thoughtfully. I leaned down to take a look at his face. He seemed to be debating on something.

            “Promise to meet me again?” he asked, looking up. My eyes widened slightly and I smiled. I nodded and stuck out my pinky. He interlaced his with mine. We both laughed afterwards and sat on the ground. A breeze swept through, carrying a few leaves with it. “You’re different.” I turned to the boy, confused. “I mean it in a good way,” he added quickly. I smiled and tilted my head to the side. “You only met me, but you put so much trust in me,” he said. There was a hint of sadness in is voice.

            “Is that bad?” I asked, picking up a leaf and blowing it.

            “No. Actually, I’m really glad I met you today. I’m glad I have a friend now,” he replied, smiling. “You’re smarter than girls your age. I’m not saying they’re dumb. I mean you know some things kids your age don’t need to know.” I stared at him for a moment and returned my gaze to the trees.

            “That’s because I need to protect my mama. She’s always been there for me, but now that everything we have is being taken away, we must fight and grow faster. There isn’t enough time to always play,” I replied. I glanced at him to see tears b in his eyes. I panicked thinking I said something wrong. “But you know, I’m eight and eight years olds should be able to grow faster. Don’t you think? It makes us smarter,” I quickly said, hoping he would cheer up. Instead he tightened his arms around me.

            “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have gone through this,” he said. I could feel his tears soaking up in my shirt. I patted his back.

            “It’s okay. It’s okay because I have mama and my friends,” I said. “That includes you.” He looked up at me and ruffled my hair.

            “I’m older than you and look at me. I’m crying like a baby while you comfort me,” he said, rubbing the back of his head.

            “It’s okay to cry though. Sometimes it’s the only way we feel better,” I said. “But you know, it’s better to cry with someone than cry alone.” He looked at the ground then at me. He smiled widely and nodded.

            “You’re really different, you know.”

            “Jin Ae, how about we go back to story time okay?” my mama asked, breaking the memory. I nodded and smiled. “Is there a story you want to hear today?”

I thought for a little then answered, “Can you tell me about the three countries?” Mama froze in her moments and then smiled weakly at me.

            “What brings up today’s story?” she asked.

            I shrugged. “Nana told us that there were other countries today. She asked me about them, but I didn’t know either.” Mama nodded and shifted into her reading position.

            “Jin Ae, since this is a historic story, I’ll tell you the whole thing and then you can ask questions, okay?” I nodded eagerly. “Okay, so it started a long time ago…”

            I listened to the story, my mind processing every word. It was like a legend. The story was about the three countries and their relationships to each other. War was everywhere, until a treaty was made. A treaty… What is it? Mama hesitated before she spoke of it.  Mama said it was an agreement the Nazari and the Linden people made. Mama said it would protect everyone and peace would be permanent.

            Now, mama is gone. It was when mama was gone, that everything changed. Mama was wrong. Peace was shattered and pain was brought back to life.